


Memento Mori

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fix-It, Grief/Mourning, I cried writing this, Injury Recovery, Jyn Erso-centric, Minor Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso, Multi, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Talking To Dead People, Unconsciousness, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:34:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23336971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: After surviving Scarif with the rest of her team, Jyn Erso finds resolution with her father’s hallucination — and pays tribute to him.
Relationships: Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso, Galen Erso & Jyn Erso
Kudos: 19
Collections: Trope Bingo: Round Fourteen





	Memento Mori

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Free Space — Fix-It Fic
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: My first Rogue One fic ever. Be gentle. Also, it started out Rebelcaptain before making things a bit more father-daughter centric, because Galen Erso? Tied with Han Solo as one of the best dads ever. Jyn Erso was lucky to have him as a dad.

  
There’s a moment, Jyn thinks, stumbling down towards the beach on Scarif — reminding her all too well of Lah’mu, where her family had lived before Orson Krennic had all but been thrown like a thermal detonator into her life — Cassian in tow, that she wonders if this is truly how she dies. How she dies with Cassian. She’s never really given much thought to her future. She’s been focused, so very much, on surviving. On fighting. She hasn’t really thought of what really comes next.  
  
When she shares that smile with Cassian when he says her father would be proud of her, she knows full well that it’s true. Whatever’s happened, they’ve got the plans to safety. They can be assured that the galaxy doesn’t have to live in fear of another Jedha.  
  
She’s come to the end of her journey. She and Cassian can rest. Cassian, who’s been involved since he was a child — they can both rest. Her eyelids are growing heavy, and she knows that she can rest.  
  
Rest...  
  
***  
  
_She doesn’t know if her father’s appearance is real or a hallucination brought on by either unconsciousness or death, but she knows that it is good to see him again, after Eadu. After his death. He doesn’t look tired anymore. If anything, Jyn doubts that he’s looked more at peace. Like in better times, before they had to run and hide.  
  
“Jyn, my stardust.” His eyes are soft. He’s not crying, but Jyn wouldn’t be surprised if he came close. "You did beautifully.”  
  
Jyn can remember seeing her father’s transmission on Jedha, before the planet was razed. A man, who she had loved and idolized before she had been a woman in her own right. She had been so used to being tough, to being hardened, letting hardly anyone in. The man who would probably give his wife and daughter the galaxy, if he could. She can remember seeing his transmission, and how her tough façade started cracking, splintering, when she allowed herself to cry.  
  
“I couldn’t save you...” she says. Cassian was right, in a way — when they had argued after Eadu, Jyn had been angry, and wanted someone to blame.  
  
“It wasn’t your fault,” Galen says. He doesn’t even go to blame the bombers who took his life either; Jyn doubts her father could really hate anybody, in the end. Maybe part of it is the remnants of a little girl named Jyn who was all but blinded by love for her father, but she doubts that he could hate anybody. “Stardust...you were so brave, and I am so proud of you. Of course, I always have been.”  
  
Jyn nods. She finds it difficult to speak.  
  
"You did all this, all of it, for me and Mother.” she says.  
  
“You doubted me?” Galen says, gently. “Oh, Jyn...”  
  
He hugs her. Jyn doesn’t know the last time she’s been hugged. Saw gave her his share of head pats, shoulder squeezes — Saw, for all his faults, did genuinely love her like his own daughter. But for five years, she’s been alone.  
  
Is it any wonder she became cold?  
  
Jyn weeps. It’s something she hasn’t allowed herself to do for too long.  
  
"I would have done everything I could to keep you safe,” Galen says. "You and your mother. As any father would have done for their daughter. As your mother did, when she did what she could to protect you.”  
  
Eventually, Jyn draws away. Galen smears away tears from her cheeks — the second batch she’s allowed herself to cry.  
  
“Father...” Jyn says.  
  
“I always knew, Stardust. And you should go. You have the biggest family in the galaxy — and they’re waiting for you.”  
  
Galen smiles, and for a moment, Jyn thinks he looks like the man she knew as a little girl.  
  
_  
  
***  
  
Jyn wakes in that moment, the image of her father’s face still all but burned into her mind. She looks around, and to her disbelief and relief, she sees Bodhi, Chirrut, Baze, Cassian...badly injured, in bandages, but very much alive.  
  
“Hello, little sister,” Chirrut says. “We were wondering when you’d wake up.”  
  
“How...?” Jyn says.  
  
“It takes,” Baze says, “Far more than Imperial troops to down us.” Then, more seriously, “Our pilot was especially lucky. That explosion could have been fatal.”  
  
The medic next to them, a young girl with her red hair in a bun, nods grimly. “You’ll have to stay on bedrest for a while. All of you.” A beat. “You did a noble thing.”  
  
“The plans...?” Jyn says.  
  
“Princess Organa has them,” says the girl. “She’s heading back to her homeplanet of Alderaan right now. With luck, we can prevent another Jedha. Even one Jedha’s too many.”  
  
“It is,” Jyn says.  
  
Cassian’s hand snakes over towards hers, takes it. “You saw your father,” he said. “I heard you murmuring. In your sleep.”  
  
“Yes.” Jyn can’t even bring herself to make a sarcastic comment.  
  
“I didn’t know your father,” Cassian says. “I am...sorry for your loss. I never knew him as the man. Just who Draven said he was.”  
  
Jyn swallows. She can start talking about her father, at least, without anger, without grief — just reverence for the man he was. “Well,” she says, “He was smart. Incredibly smart. Kind — I don’t think he was capable of hating anybody. He saw the good in people, and he was good to me. And my mother...”  
  
***  
  
Galen Erso is one of those memorialized after the destruction of the Death Star — a necessity, Jyn knows. She’s called on to give the eulogy, as she is Galen’s daughter. Hesitantly, Cassian squeezes Jyn’s shoulder, and she smiles back at him. She can’t say she’s smiled often.  
  
Then she heads up to the front.  
  
She can feel the Rebellion’s eyes on her. They’re awed, and maybe a bit confused in some cases.  
  
Then Jyn speaks. “I’m Galen Erso’s daughter,” she says. "You could say I’ve known him my whole life...”  
  
And she starts talking. People seem to like listening to her talk, she thinks. She’s never fancied herself a motivational leader, a Leia Organa type, but today has proven to be full of surprises.  
  
She talks about what he did. How he was the one who put the flaw in the Death Star. How he lied to the Empire, all while working against them. She talks, sharing stories, some nice, some not nice, about Galen, and the crowd listens — clearly in awe that an Imperial would be so selfless.  
  
Eventually, Jyn’s done. “Here’s to Galen Erso,” she says. “Loving father...and hero, to all of us.”  
  
She walks back towards Cassian, who squeezes her shoulder again. “It was perfect, Jyn,” he says. “I never met the man proper. I am honored to know his daughter.”  
  
Jyn smiles at him. "They’re celebrating,” she says. “Shall we join them?”  
  
Cassian smiles. “Let’s,” he says. “For Galen.”  
  
“Yes,” Jyn says. “For him.”


End file.
